Outside of the Twin Cities though, the Vikings' name just hasn't come up quite as often as other clubs lately. Perhaps that's due to the fact that there's a new head coach in charge with Mike Zimmer and, outside of a few player visits, the team is generally trying to keep a lower profile. As a result, opinions on what the franchise will do in the first round of the draft is split.

Sure they definitely need a quarterback of the future but with so many talented positional players, can they afford to pass up an elite defensive player with the eighth overall pick? We'll find out in less than three weeks but based on what Zimmer needs for his defense, Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley could make a lot of sense for the team.

"I think that is definitely a consideration," NFL Media analyst Charles Davis said about Mosley on NFL Network's "Path to the Draft". "That works out pretty well. Jasper Brinkley is coming back to Minnesota but he's not solidified there at middle linebacker."

That's only a single selection behind the Vikings, so it's not as though the team would be reaching terribly to take him at No. 8.

Minnesota ranked behind only the Dallas Cowboys last season in terms of yards per game given up on defense, so there's certainly room to improve on that side of the ball. Mosley is one of the more polished linebackers to come out of college in the past few years and excels in coverage for someone at his position.

If the team opts to go a different direction on the first night of the draft however, there will still be a number of options Zimmer could turn to in the second night that could provide a boost to his defense.

"When you talk about [Chris] Borland out of Wisconsin in the second round, you're getting an instinctive, terrific player," said Davis. "Preston Brown (out of Louisville) is a plugger. Shyane Skov is a terrific blitzer from Stanford too."

Grabbing Mosley early would certainly set the tone for Zimmer as he leads the organization in his first season as head coach, but it's clear he's got some options in the draft as he goes about shoring up the linebacker position for 2014 and beyond.